Be calm and never take law into your hands, says Chief Eric Opah

My attention has been drawn to a recent publication by a young lady on Facebook which, to many of us, appears to have denigrated and stereotyped our people and Ala Ngwa.

I understand the pain and anger such a publication can generate. No people should be reduced to a stereotype as demeaning as the content of that post. No young person should be made to grow up believing that an entire ethnic group can be judged by the perceived actions or shortcomings of a few especially where such claims remain largely unproven.

Sadly, our government continues to look away from incidents of this nature, failing to appreciate that what may appear today as a minor social-media provocation can become a tiny seed capable of setting our youths against one another.

But we must resist the temptation to respond in ways that could cause disorder in our dear state. We must continue to preach peace, mutual respect and tolerance, those values upon which our heroes past built and sustained our society.

I therefore appeal to my brothers and sisters not to answer prejudice with prejudice.

Let us not allow an offensive publication to divide us or provoke responses that deepen the very stereotypes we are trying to defeat. If we do, we may unwittingly fall into the trap of those who seek to set our people against one another for selfish political purposes.

No doubt, our people have a proud history. We are accommodating, industrious, resilient and enterprising. We have a long tradition of contributing to the welfare and development of our brothers and sisters who live among us.

Please do not allow anyone to provoke you into abandoning these values. Please, do not let them.

Your earnest cry has reached heaven. And I believe that, by the grace of God, help is on the way.

But that help must also come through us.

We shall re-invent an Abia where an Ngwa man does not have to apologise for being Ngwa; where an Aro, Ohuhu, Bende, Isuikwuato, Ukwa or any other Abian does not have to defend his identity before being respected and where our differences become sources of strength rather than weapons of political manipulation.

To my people, sheathe your swords.

Our dignity will be restored. Our respect will be restored. But that restoration cannot be achieved through anger, ethnic retaliation or the demonisation of others.

It will come through good governance, fairness, economic opportunity, justice and a deliberate rebuilding of trust among our people.

It will be well with Abia.

Thank you.

Chief Eric Opah